Topic: Full Service Restaurants

Recipe for Success

How do you launch a software business staffed by Web-wary employees and targeted at a tech-averse audience? Start with passion, add funding, season with experience, and serve.READ»

Will the Letterman-Palin Clash Take a Bite Out of Olive Garden?

Late last week, the Web site Politico ran a story claiming that Olive Garden was pulling its ads during The Late Show with David Letterman because of the late-night comedian's recent joke about Sarah Palin's teenage daughter. The ...READ»

Why America Is Addicted to Olive Garden

Technology, savvy brand management, and a little bit of soul have made $6.7 billion Darden Restaurants the world's biggest casual-dining operation -- and it's still growing, even in tough times.READ»

• The Darden Menu

The Darden Menu

Starter The Green Frog The pitch: "Service with a hop" Size: A 10-stool lunch counter in Waycross, Georgia -- Bill Darden's first restaurant, opened in 1938 Entrées Olive Garden The pitch: ...READ»

Ludacris -- Rapper Turned Entrepreneur?

When I overheard an excited murmur about how Chris Bridges was setting up a restaurant in Atlanta, I didn't think anything of it. Neither the name nor the act seemed worthy of much interest. A little while later the name popped up ...READ»

Clarence Otis Jr. Interview

In the June 7th New York Times there was an interview with Clarence Otis Jr., CEO of Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden & Capital Grille - talk about diversity!)that I found intriguing because of his answers to 2 ...READ»

Are You Preparing for the Economic Upswing or is Your Customer Service in Recession?

While some shortsighted organizations have cut back on customer service there are organizations that  continue to create the kind of extraordinary experiences for their customers that ensure repeat business. The Kimpton Hotels and ...READ»

Slow Food: The Restaurant Biz Is Floundering

More bad news for the nation's diners, drive-thrus, and dives. Can they innovate their way out of this mess?READ»

Tech for Toques

Rain or shine, Damian Mogavero's Slingshot brings left-brain discipline to a right-brain world. READ»

The Eating Experience

Karen Stone mentioned an innovative approach to the dining experience in her blog Decent Marketing. Citing Kathleen Ream's review of eating at Herbfarm in Washington state, Stone posits that improving the eating experience could bode ...READ»

Restaurant Heritage: Rooting in Intuitive Understanding

It's interesting to note that there has been a heritage of being more experience aware in the restaurant business, over the years there have been visionaries like Ray Kroc, Howard Johnson, JW Marriott, etc. who understood how ...READ»

Lofty Living On the Cheap

What's the next thing in hotel rooms? High ceilings.READ»

Prix Fixe pricing

I can't help but comment on p. p1 article in today's Wall Street Journal, "The Prix Fixe Is In". In the restaurant industry, charging per entree is the appropriate pricing model for food service; alternatively, a fixed price is the ...READ»

Sustainability: When It Comes to Going Green, Bigger is Better

When it comes to the environment, we are constantly told that every little bit counts. But it's often hard to see what impact an individual recycling an empty soda can or turning down the thermostat a few degrees in winter really has ...READ»

Take This McJob and Love It

McDonald's is miffed at the editors of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary for the recent inclusion of the term "McJob" to mean "low-paying and dead-end work." CEO Jim Cantalupo says the word is insulting to people working in the ...READ»